Portable crib

ABSTRACT

A crib is foldably contained in a portable receptacle. The base members of the crib are formed by the receptacle itself when in an open position and end panels of the crib are hingedly attached to each base member. Side rails of the crib are hinged to each end panel and can be swung into position after the panels are raised to a vertical position. Means are provided to lock the side rails to the base members and to the end panels. Legs for the crib are foldable within each side rail and can be locked in operational position to form a sturdy crib raised off of the floor.

[451 Mar. 27, 1973 United States Patent 1 Hrynda PORTABLE CRIB [76] Inventor:

Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Att0rneyHa.milt0n, Renner & Kenner Helen R. Hrynda, 3386 Kingston Lane, Youngstown, Ohio 44551 Aug. 3, 1971 [22] Filed: ABSTRACT A crib is foldably contained in a portable receptacle. I

211 Appl; No: 168,599

The base members of the crib are formed by the receptacle itself when in an open position and end panels of the crib are hingedly attached to each base member. Side rails of the crib are hinged to each end R 3 9m 9 9 5 3 D m 5 mm n ".c m a d S M U.mF 1]] 2 00 www panel and can be swung into position after the panels are raised to a vertical position. Means are provided to lock the side rails to the base members and to the end References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS panels. Legs for the crib are foldable within each side rail and can be locked in operational position to form a sturdy crib raised off of the floor.

..5/99 R .....5/99 R Ehrenberg R 10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 3,296,633 Rieger 2,640,203 6/1953 Sheldon 2,634 432 4/1953 PATENTEDMARZT 1975 SHEET 10F 3 INVENTOR. HELEN R. HRYNDA PATEE'HFUHFFZ 7197s SHEET 2 BF 3 9 W ATTORNEYS PORTABLE CRIB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a crib which can be readily folded into a suitcase-like receptacle and thereby be easily transported from place to place.

Many prior art patents have described devices which represent attempts at providing a sturdy, safe and compact portable crib for an infant. In solving one particular problem, however, each device has created another. For example, one type of portable crib is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,498,633 as consisting of a suitcase, each half of which being spread apart and connected by a plurality of toggle-like links thereby forming the sides and bottom of the crib. While providing a compact unit for the relatively small infant, this crib is highly deficient in that the toggle-like links could be easily flexed by an active child which could pinch the limbs of the child, or if flexed to an extreme, could totally collapse.

Another type of portable crib, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,644, utilized the bottom portion of the suitcaselike enclosure along with two long fold-out posts as leg supports for the crib, serving the valid purpose of raising the crib off the floor to eliminate drafts to which the child might otherwise be exposed. However, this crib, if constructed, would be quite unstable and totally unsatisfactory for a larger infant who might be highly active.

In yet another type of portable crib, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,608, flaps on one half of a receptacle simply folded out and were snapped together to form a carton-like enclosure. This structure, however, could be utilized only with a small infant since the older, more adept child would have no difficulty in removing himself from the bed.

One additional type of crib shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,486,067, utilized a plurality of hinged portions all of which could be raised to a vertical position and then connected to form a confining enclosure. While this structure was designed so as to accommodate older babies, its plurality of hinged portions rendered it bulky, unsturdy, and difficult to assemble. In short, each of the aforementioned prior art devices have shortcomings which do not render them ideal for universal use by infants or young children.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a portable crib which is compact yet universally adaptable to be utilized by various aged infants.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable crib, as above, which is sturdy and easily assembled.

It is another object of the present invention to pro vide a portable crib, as above, which is totally safe for use by an active child yet supported above the floor to preclude drafts on the child.

, These and other objects of the present invention, together with the advantages thereof over existing and prior art forms, will become apparent for the following description and are accomplished by the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.

In general, a portable receptacle, generally in the form of a suitcase, utilizes its external portions as base members to form the mattress-holding sides and bottom portion of a crib for an infant, the remainder of the crib being folded within the receptacle. The opening of the receptacle exposes the two crib end panels hingedly attached to the base members. When the end panels are raised to their natural vertical position, two foldable side rails are exposed and can be swung outwardly to form the sides of the crib. Each side member carries legs which can be locked in place to the base members Means are provided to lock all the members together so that the crib will be structurally sturdy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the portable crib receptacle according to the concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the portable crib receptacle as it appears in a partially open condition at the beginning of the assembly of the crib.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the portable crib receptacle sequentially following FIG. 2 in the assembly process.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the portable crib fully assembled.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged elevational view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged elevational view taken substantially along line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a connecting device which locks the sides of the crib tothe ends of the crib.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 88 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A portable receptacle which houses a. crib for an infant or small child is indicated generally by the numeral 10 in FIG. 1 and consists of two halves l1 and 12, respectively, which as will hereinafter be described, form base members which receive a mattress M of a crib indicated generally by the numeral 20 in FIG. 4.

Base members or receptacle halves 11 and 12, which can be of aluminum or some other light weight but sturdy material, are each attached, as by hinges 13, to a link member 14 which forms the bottom of the receptacle l0 and also combines with the base members 11 and 12 to receive the mattress M thereon. The base members or halves l1 and 12 of receptacle 10 are fastened together at the top thereof by conventional latches 15 which clip over pins 16 (FIG. 2). A handle 17 is provided to render the receptacle l0 readily portable. 7

As shown in FIG. 2, opening the receptacle 10 exposes two crib end panels 21 and 22 housed within base members 11 and 12, respectively, and the center por-' tion of the mattress M. Panels 21 and 22, which are shown as a solid members but which can be open rails or bars as in many cribs, swing about the edge of the base members 11 and 12 via hinges 23 and 24, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, when the panels are raised to a vertical position, side rails, indicated generally by the numerals 25 and 26, are exposed. Each side rail 25 and 26 includes two halves, 25a and 25b, and 26a and 26b, respectively, the halves being pivotally connected as by hinges 27 and 28, respectively, and thereby foldable upon themselves. Of course, if desired, the side rails 25 and 26 could be solid panels similar to members 21 and 22.

Side rail portion 25a is permanently hinged, at 29, to end panel 21 with side rail portion 260 being permanently hinged, at 30, to end panel 22. With both end panels 21 and 22 in a vertical position, the side rails 25 and 26 are extended along the edges of base members 11 and 12 and connected thereto as by hooks 31 extending from an eyelets 32 at the bottom of the side rail 26 and connected to eyelets 33 in the sides of base members 11 and 12 (FIG. Further, the side rails 25 and 26 are held rigid not permitted to pivot on hinges 27 and 28, respectively, asby a latch 34 secured by brackets 35 to each portion of the side rails, side rail portions 26a and 26b being shown in a locked position in FIG. 6.

Each side rail 25 or 26, extending from end panels 21 and 22, respectively, is locked to the opposite end panel, 22 and 21, respectively, in a manner best shown in FIG. 7. End panel 22 carries eyebrackets 36 for mating engagement with duo-eyebrackets 37 on the end of side rail portion 25b. A pintle 38, conveniently carried by each eyebracket 36 locks eyebrackets 36 and 37 together to form temporary hinge-like connections indicated generally by the numeral 39 in FIG. 4. It should be evident that side railpoition 26b is temporarily attached to end panel 21 in a like manner.

With side rails 25 and 26 being locked to end panels 21 and 22, the crib is sturdily formed and can rest directly on the floor on base members 11 and 12 and link member 14. However, it is quite often advantageous for the health and safety of the child to raise the crib off the floor. For this purpose, leg members indicated generally by the numeral 40 can be provided. As shown in FIGS. 3,4 and 8, the body portion 41 of each leg 40 is attached to each side rail portion a, 25b, 26a and 26b,- as by hinges 42. Positioned along the length of body portions 41 are support blocks 43 which carry spring loaded pins 44.-The tips of pins 44 can engage a recess 45 in the bottom of base members 1 1 and 12 to lock the legs 40 in place after they are swung downward from the FIG. 3 position to the position shown in FIGS. 4 and 8. Rubber. or teflon pads 46 can be provided at the bottom of leg body portions 41 so that the crib 20 can be readily slid across the floor,

as necessary.

From the foregoing description, it should be evident that a portable crib constructed according to the conceptof the present invention accomplishes the aforementioned objectives and otherwise substantially improves the portable crib.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable crib comprising foldable base member means for receiving a mattress when in an unfolded position and forming the external portions of a portable receptacle when in a folded position, spaced end panel means swingably attached to said base member means, side rail means swingable attached to at least one of said end panel means and extending between said end panel means, and means to lock said side rail means to said end panel means to form the crib enclosure.

2. A portable crib according to claim 1 further comprising leg members swingably attached to said side rail i ii portable crib according to claim 2 further comprising means to lock said leg members to said base member means to raise and support the crib off the floor.

4. A portable crib according to claim 1 further comprising means to latch said base member means together when in a folded position, and handle means affixed to one of said base member means to render the receptacle readily portable.

5. A portable crib according to claim 1 further comprising a link member, said base member means being hingedly attached to said link member, and said link member and said base member means receiving the mattress when said base member means are in an unfolded position.

6. A portable crib according to claim 1 wherein said end panel means includes first and second end panels and said side rail means includes first and second side rails, said first side rail being permanently hingedly attached to said first end panel and said second side rail being permanently hingedly attached to said second end panel.

7. A portable crib according to claim 6 further comprising means to temporarily attach said first side rail to said second end panel and means to temporarily attach 

1. A portable crib comprising foldable base member means for receiving a mattress when in an unfolded position and forming the external portions of a portable receptacle when in a folded position, spaced end panel means swingably attached to said base member means, side rail means swingable attached to at least one of said end panel means and extending between said end panel means, and means to lock said side rail means to said end panel means to form the crib enclosure.
 2. A portable crib according to claim 1 further comprising leg members swingably attached to said side rail means.
 3. A portable crib according to claim 2 further comprising means to lock said leg members to said base member means to raise and support the crib off the floor.
 4. A portable crib according to claim 1 further comprising means to latch said base member means together when in a folded position, and handle means affixed to one of said base member means to render the receptacle readily portable.
 5. A portable crib according to claim 1 further comprising a link member, said base member means being hingedly attached to said link member, and said link member and said base member means receiving the mattress when said base member means are in an unfolded position.
 6. A portable crib according to claim 1 wherein said end panel means includes first and second end panels and said side rail means includes first and second side rails, said first side rail being permanently hingedly attached to said first end panel and said second side rail being permanently hingedly attached to said second end panel.
 7. A portable crib according to claim 6 further comprising means to temporarily attach said first side rail to said second end panel and means to temporarily attach said second side rail to said first end panel.
 8. A portable crib according to claim 7 further comprising means to fold said first and second side rails upon themselves.
 9. A portable crib according to claim 8 Further comprising means to lock said first and second side rails in an unfolded position.
 10. A portable crib according to claim 9 further comprising means to lock said first and second side rails to said base member means. 